Chapter 2
Abby pulled up on the bike and cut the engine as she dismounted to secure it. Once she was sure it wasn't going anywhere, she turned to face the main building of Blackwell Academy as a battered car pulled into the parking lot behind her. The engine cut out all too abruptly for the driver to have turned it off, causing her to turn. As she did, she saw a girl with jet-black hair get out and start swearing furiously as she slammed the door shut and trudged around to the front to pop the hood.
'Well this is precisely how I wanted to make a first impression!' Abby thought to herself as she broke into a jog and headed over. The girl had the hood propped up, but it was just as plainly obvious that she didn't know what she was doing as it had been the last eight times it had happened since she got the car a month ago.
"I hate to say it, honey, but it might be best to just give up." Abby walked up beside her and wrapped her arm around the slightly smaller girl. "Just admit it, Lynn. You've bought a lemon. I will personally buy you a new one myself if you say-" She was cut off as Lynn landed a solid gut punch that caused Abby to let out a sharp cough and stagger, gripping the edge of the car for support.
"It's alright for you!" Lynn snapped. "You saved up for your bike! My car was a hand-me-down I bought off my cousin." Abby bit her tongue. She knew she'd made a lot of Peugeot jokes- and had joked relentlessly that the French couldn't do anything properly and that was why Lynn's car ran like that- over the summer, but in truth she did feel sorry for her. For Abby, there was something about being surrounded by doors on all sides that made her feel really claustrophobic. That left her with no option but to get a motorcycle. Lynn, on the other hand, had got a car because she knew they'd need to be able to transport their boxes of stuff when they moved into the girls dorms- the same boxes that were on her back seats- and now here she was staring at a car engine covered in odd-coloured fluid that had spewed out from at least one of the valves.
"Come on." Abby shut the hood back down and headed to the back of the car to grab her box of stuff. She had a separate bag with clothes in, but in terms of possessions she'd been able to scale most of her life down to one box and had decided to build up her life from there since she and Lynn were hoping to move into an apartment together upon leaving Blackwell once they graduated. Lynn, on the other hand, had several boxes. That being said, there was method to her madness.
Together, the two of them made the trek to the girls' dorm. One of the girls there spotted them coming and held the door open for them, letting them through. They nodded in thanks and then began the long climb up to their floor. Six flights of stairs to the third floor was a gruelling ask in and of itself, let alone the idea of having to do it multiple times for all their stuff, but they put that out of their minds and decided to just focus on getting to their room first.
Once they reached the floor, the wall chart was easy enough to follow. There was a map on the wall showing all the rooms on their floor and the name of the person staying in them. Abby found her name under room 219 while Lynn was in 225. They'd picked the keys up the previous day so that they didn't have to head to the admin office while trying to move in, so it was very easy to find the rooms that were allocated to each of them. Lynn vanished through the door into her hallway and was gone for all of ten seconds as Abby heard her violently kick the box through the door before locking it and returning. Abby unlocked her door and pushed it open, stepping into the room with Lynn close behind her. She set her box down inside the door by the empty wardrobe and paused, taking in the space around them and trying to come to terms with the fact that this would be the place they called 'home' for the foreseeable future.
"Hey, what's the betting we'll be out for a night, I'll suggest we go home to make out and the next thing Dad knows we're knocking on his door?" Abby quipped, nudging Lynn in the ribs. Lynn couldn't hide a grin as she took the box from Abby and set it down by the bed.
"Ah, the downsides of actually living in the same town as the college you're boarding at." She wrapped her arms around Abby's neck and leaned in, their foreheads pressing together. "Don't worry. Give it a few weeks, he'll miss you so much he'll be glad of the visits. Even the half-drunk ones." Abby instantly felt a pang of guilt in her gut. Ever since the accident, her mother's absence had left a void in the house. She and her dad had pulled together as best they could, but now she and Lynn were in Blackwell, there was no one for him to support or to help him hold himself together. She knew she'd have to visit him sooner rather than later.
"You know, I heard from Mom recently." Abby didn't know where the words were coming from, but they were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Lynn's look of surprise at her words was mirrored internally by Abby's own at the fact she was saying them in the first place. "Yeah. Got a letter from her." She pressed on, knowing if she didn't say something now then she'd never get chance. "She gave me a bit of a present. Really, it's for both of us. I've got it for safekeeping but once we graduate it's officially ours to do with as we like."
"This sounds intriguing." Abby felt her heart skip a beat as Lynn looked up at her with the same smile that had made her first realise she was in love. "Any idea when she's getting out?"
"Uh..." Abby ran the math in her head. "Well, it happened in 2008 and she got five years, so about a year and a half. Maybe just scraping the two year mark. Could be less if she behaves or longer if she messes up. Can't see that happening, though. She never intended for it to happen. It's not like she snuck into the guy's room and murdered him and his whole family. She's like a role model for model prisoners and the poster babe for reduced sentences on good behaviour." The half-hearted joke fell flat and she knew it. Still, Lynn hugged her closer and Abby knew that in that moment she had everything she needed right there.
"I love how you're joking like that to keep your spirits up." Lynn said, adjusting her head so that her face now rested in Abby's neck.
"She just needs to focus on herself right now." Abby said as she led Lynn over to the bed and sat herself down. Lynn climbed onto her lap, straddling her as Abby briefly stole a kiss from her. "As do we. Classes start tomorrow and we're going to have some time to kill once we're moved in here."
"Ooh, I like the sound of that." Lynn leaned in again for another kiss, but a knock at the door made them look up. Lynn flew off Abby's lap like she'd been shocked as the pair of them realised they'd forgotten to shut the door behind them. They'd been about to make out in an open room with anyone walking past able to catch them. A girl stood there in front of them, an uncertain expression on her face as she smoothed out her skirt and fiddled with the tiny gold cross around her neck.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Abby practically screamed as she jumped up with Lynn. "I thought she'd shut the door behind us!"
"Why was it my job?" Lynn asked, her tone accusing. "We were both in the room!"
"And I was carrying a massive box!" Abby countered. "I had my hands full!" At that, Lynn looked over at the box as Abby saw the realisation dawn on her.
"Ah. Yeah, okay. That's on me. I take that." She gave a despondent nod as she turned to the girl who'd interrupted them. "Sorry about that. Can we help you?"
"I was just wondering if you had any blue-tack I could borrow." The girl was clearly unnerved by the fact she'd walked in on them and it made Abby feel guilty as hell. People walking in on them was one thing. Them leaving the door open for all the world to see was quite another.
"Sorry, we haven't even started unpacking yet." She stood up, grabbing the box they had with them and hauling it onto the bed before pulling out her multi-tool. "If there's some in this one, I'll rip some off for you." She slit the tape open and started rummaging while Lynn did her best to converse with the other girl and break the ice. It turned out she was just moving in like them and was going to be in room 222. It was just as Lynn was getting the girl's name that Abby found what she was looking for.
"So what's your name?" Lynn asked as Abby made her way over, ripping open the packet and pulling the paper back.
"Kate Marsh." Now that Lynn was talking to the girl, she seemed to be finding her voice a bit better. She'd always been good with new people and it was something Abby not only loved about her but also found invaluable.
"Well Kate, I'm Lynn and this is Abby." Lynn said, gesturing to her as she rejoined them. "She's not so bad once you get to know her." Kate looked to Abby as Abby held the packet out to her, wishing she was better at talking to people.
"Take what you need, I guess." She shrugged as she stepped back, curling one arm around Lynn. She knew that Kate wouldn't understand that it was more to do with her nerves in that moment, but that was okay. It wasn't for her to understand. Not at that moment. All Kate had to worry about in that moment was taking the blue-tack she needed and giving the packet back when she was done. Once that was done, Abby took the packet back before heading back into the room and leaving Kate and Lynn to chat. She knew there would be time to get the rest of their boxes later, They didn't even have to really unpack provided all their stuff was at least in the room. It was best if they saved their energy for where it was needed. Classes were going to be getting underway at the crack of dawn, and it was going to be a very busy day.
Author's Note: And now we officially have Kate on the scene! There will be more cameos as we go on, but I won't spoil who will or won't be making an appearance. That said, feel free to make a guess in the reviews. Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next chapter. Stay safe out there.
